THE GREAT FALLS RACEWAY
AND POWER SYSTEM
Paterson, N. J.
National Historic Mechanical and Civil
Engineering Landmark
DEDICATION PROGRAM
MAY 20, 1977
NATIONAL HISTORIC MECHANICAL AND CIVIL ENGINEERING LANDMARK
ALEXANDER HAMILTON, WITH GREAT VISION, PROMPTED THE INCORPORATION OF THE "SOCIETY FOR ESTABLISHING USEFULL MANUFACTURES" IN
1791 TO START AMERICA'S ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRIAL INDEPENDENCE,
PIERRE CHARLES L'ENFANT, ENGINEER AND PLANNER OF THE NATION'S
CAPITOL, AND PETER COLT DESIGNED A RACEWAY AND POWER SYSTEM TO
HARNESS THE PASSAIC RIVER AT GREAT FALLS AND CREATE AMERICA'S
FIRST PLANNED INDUSTRIAL CITY. THAT DEVELOPMENT SPARKED COUNTLESS
ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRIAL INNOVATIONS AND PROGRESS INCLUDING THE
COLT REVOLVER, THE ROGERS AND OTHER STEAM LOCOMOTIVES, THE HOLLAND
SUBMARINE, THE CURTISS-WRIGHT AIRCRAFT ENGINE, ALONG WITH TEXTILE
AND SILK MANUFACTURING WHICH MADE PATERSON FAMOUS AS THE "SILK CITY"
OF THE WORLD.
THE GREAT FALLS RACEWAY AND POWER SYSTEM AT PATERSON IS THE
BASIS OF THE OLDEST AMERICAN COMMUNITY INTEGRATING WATER POWER,
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AND URBAN PLANNING. IT IS A LANDMARK OF
AMERICAN MECHANICAL AND CIVIL ENGINEERING HERITAGE.
DEDICATED 1977 BY:
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF
CIVIL ENGINEERS
MECHANICAL ENGINEERS
DEDICATION CEREMONY
THE GREAT FALLS RACEWAY AND POWER SYSTEM, PATERSON, NEW JERSEY
A NATIONAL HISTORIC MECHANICAL AND CIVIL ENGINEERING LANDMARK
Friday, May 20, 1977
At Haines (Overlook) Park by the Great Falls
ASME Board of Directors meeting
at former S.U.M. Administration
Building. (72 McBride Avenue, Ext.)
8:00 - 10:30 A.M.
10:45 - 11:00 A.M.
Band Music-Kennedy High School Band
11:00 - 11:05 A.M.
Dedication Ceremony starts with
Flying salute over the Great Falls
by the U. S. Air Force.
11:05 - 11:15 A.M.
Welcome and introduction of Paterson
honored guests by Mayor Lawrence F.
Kramer, Master of Ceremonies.
Introduction of ASME honored guests
by Robert A. Baker, Vice President,
ASME Region II.
Introduction of ASCE honored guests
by William LaLonde, III, ASCE
New Jersey Section Past President.
11:15 - 11:20 A.M.
Solo of "God Bless America" by
Pat Falano; piano accompaniment by
Councilwoman Marian Rauschenbach.
11:20 - 11:30 A.M.
History and National Engineering
Significance of the Great Falls
Raceway and Power System by
Francis J. Blesso, Vice Chairman,
History and Heritage Committee,
ASCE New Jersey Section.
11:30 - 11:45 A.M.
Presentation of Plaque by
Earle C. Miller, President ASME
Joseph S. Ward, Vice President,
Zone I, ASCE.
Acceptance of Plaque by Mayor Lawrence
F. Kramer.
Dedication Ceremony Concludes.
11:45 A.M.
-2-
SPECIAL EVENTS PROGRAM
In Great Falls/S.U.M. Historic District
11:45 A.M. - 4:00 P.M.
1- Walking tours of the Great Falls/
S.U.M. National Historic District.
2- Tour of S.U.M. Hydroelectric Power
Generating Station.
3- Tour of Rogers Locomotive Erecting
Shop Restoration.
4- Tour and exhibit at Ivanhoe Papermill Water Wheelhouse Restoration.
5- Exhibit at Great Falls Archaeology
Lab., 154½ Van Houten Street.
6- Tour of Green Acres Upper Raceway
Park under development.
(Entrance to park to be site for
permanently attaching the National
Mechanical and Civil Engineering
Landmark Plaque.
At Great Falls Park
11:45 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.
Picnic lunch provided by CurtissWright and City of Paterson for
guests of ASME, ASCE and City of
Paterson.
At Rogers Locomotive Erecting Shop
(Spruce and Market Streets)
1:00 - 1:30 P.M.
Theatre event preview of "On The Line"
by The Learning Theatre.
----------------------------------------MAY 20, 1977, MARKING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF LINDBERGH'S FAMOUS
"SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS" NONSTOP TRANS-ATLANTIC FLIGHT WHICH WAS POWERED BY A
PATERSON-MANUFACTURED WRIGHT "WHIRLWIND" J5 ENGINE, WAS CHOSEN BECAUSE IT
TYPIFIED THE ENGINEERING GENIUS AND ACHIEVEMENTS WHICH TRACE THEIR DEVELOPMENT BACK TO THE GREAT FALLS RACEWAY AND POWER SYSTEM AND MADE PATERSON
FAMOUS AS "THE CRADLE OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY".
-3-
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The North Jersey Section of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers and
the New Jersey Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers gratefully
acknowledge the efforts of all the people who cooperated to make the dedication
of the Great Falls Raceway and Power System a success.
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS
President
Earle C. Miller
President Elect
Dr. Stothe P. Kezios
Vice President, Region II
Robert A. Baker
Arnold E. Pristernik
Chairman, North Jersey Section
Robert G. Lommel
Chairman, History & Heritage Committee,
North Jersey Section
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
Leland J. Walker
William R. Gibbs
Arthur J. Fox, Jr.
Joseph S. Ward
George F. Flay, Jr.
William H. Taylor
William S. LaLonde, III
Frederick J. Hofmann
Myron K. Weller
Peter A. Di Legge
President
President Elect
Past President
Vice President, Zone I
Director, District I
President, New Jersey Section
Past President, New Jersey Section
President, New Jersey Branch
Past President, North Jersey Branch
Chairman, History & Heritage Committee,
New Jersey Section
ASME NATIONAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMITTEE
Chairman
Dr. Donald E. Marlowe
Secretary
Dr. R. Carson Dalzell
Dean John G. Burke
Prof. J. J. Ermenc
Prof. R. S. Hartenberg
Dr. J. Paul Hartman
Smithsonian Institution
Dr. Otto Mayr (Ex-officio)
ASME Staff Liaison
Maurice Jones
ASCE NATIONAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMITTEE
Chairman
L. Neal FitzSimons
John W. Briscoe
G. Brooks Earnest
Emory L. Kemp
Alan L. Prasuhn
John R. Wolfs
CURTISS-WRIGHT CORPORATION
T. R. Berner
Arnold Kossar
Dr. Donald Slocum
Fred Ruport
President and Chairman of the Board
Vice President & Dir. of Corporate Technology
Executive Director, Corporate Development
Former Manager, Experimental Machine Shop
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CITY OF PATERSON
Lawrence F. Kramer
Mayor
Frank X. Graves, Jr.
Marian Rauschenbach
Samuel Hughes
Cyril Yannarelli
Irene DiMarcantonio
Nicholas DeLuccia III
Dominick DeMarco
Martin Barnes
Raymond Cassetta
Council President
Councilwoman-at-Large
Councilman-at-Large
Councilman-at-Large
Councilwoman
Councilman
Councilman
Councilman
Councilman
Larry D. Worth
Business Administrator
David Stadtmauer
Director of Economic Development
John N. O'Malley
Director, Division of Redevelopment
William Pascrell, Jr.
Director, Department of Public Works
Daniel Malatesta
City Engineer
Robert McCrowe
Director, Division of Parks
Robert Angelica
Parks Foreman
Joe L. Ward
Deputy Director, Div. of Economic Development
Stephen G. Warfel
Great Falls Archaeologist
Ruth Hirshberg
Director, Office of Special Events
Grace George
Director, Great Falls Tour Office
Joan Colella
Secretary
Henrietta Lieberman
Secretary
George Messier
Draftsman
Gordon Ash and the Rogers Construction Crew
Victor Luise and the Title X Great Falls Public Works Crew
GREAT FALLS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Joseph Bograd
Dorothy Jurewicz
Entire Board of Directors
President
Corresponding Secretary
THE LEARNING THEATRE
Irene and Howard Sterling and entire theatre production crew
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Dr. Russell I. Fries
Bruce Cavin
John Young
Mary Ellen Kramer
Former Director, Great Falls Historic District
Former Great Falls Architect
Visionaries and organizers of Public
movement to preserve and restore the Great
Falls/S.U.M. Historic District.
SPECIAL THANKS
The Record
The Historic American Engineering
Record (HAER)
Passaic County Historical Society
G.K. Livitsanos
Congressman Robert A. Roe
Pat Falano
Victor Palmieri and Kennedy
High School Band
Rodney Roth & Musician's
Local 248
Curtiss-Wright Corporation
For cover photograph
For inside photographs-Figs. 1,2,3,5
For
For
For
For
For
inside photographs-Figs. 4,8,9
inside photographs-Figs. 6,7,10
arranging U. S. Air Force "Fly Over"
solo
Band Music
For music at picnic luncheon
For providing picnic lunch
Francis J. Blesso and Jack R. Stokvis
Commemorative Brochure Authors and
Dedication Ceremony Coordinators
-5-
Fig. A - Upper Raceway Showing Flumes to Rogers Locomotive Buildings.
INTRODUCTION
"In Paterson people did not just invent; they tried everything - a repeating revolver, a submarine, an airplane that could fly
across the Atlantic. And Paterson did not just manufacture; it produced articles that redefined the limits of life. It is impossible to
think of any other city whose products cut so deeply into the texture
of the United States and not only transformed its national character,
but revolutionized America's relations with the world."
-Christopher Norwood, About Paterson
(New York; Saturday Review Press,
1974), p. 41.
Although the Great Falls Raceway and Power System lies at
the heart of Paterson's legacy as "The Cradle of American Industry",
it was people who made the system work and grow. It was the people
who sparked and stoked Paterson's daring industrial revolution which
was then repeated in other American Cities and led to the industrial,
social, cultural, economic, and political changes which developed America.
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EVOLUTION OF THE GREAT FALLS RACEWAY AND POWER SYSTEM
Early History
Alexander Hamilton visited the Great Falls of the Passaic
River with George Washington long before the City of Paterson was there.
The ceaseless flow and power of the 77 foot high, 280 foot wide waterfall inspired his dream of industrial strength and independence a declaration of economic independence from foreign markets to assure
the hard won gains of the Revolution.
In December, 1791 Hamilton and others founded the Society
for Establishing Usefull (sic) Manufactures, commonly known as the
S.U.M. and the Great Falls was selected as the choice location for the
Great Falls Raceway and Power System.
The first raceway plan was designed by Pierre Charles
L'Enfant, architect and planner of Washington, D. C., and modified by
Peter Colt. They envisioned a multi-tiered raceway system that would
channel water for power to mills to be constructed and operated by the
S.U.M. along its path. The early raceway system operated from 1794 to
1799 and drew water from the Passaic through a wooden dam above the Falls
(see Fig. 1). The water than entered into a reservoir and passed through
the raceway to a flume and waterwheel to provide power for operating a
mill. After leaving the mill, the water flowed back into the Passaic
River through a drainage channel.
However, by 1800 after financial and leadership difficulties
operating as an active manufacturing corporation, the S.U.M. became a
power developer and real estate firm. At that time, it also became
evident that the raceway was too short and would have to be extended to
provide water power for more mills. The S.U.M. then sold new lots and
-8-
PATERSON RACEWAYS, [1792 - 99]
water rights to interested manufacturers and from 1800-1827 built
a middle raceway beyond the first mill site to supply the Essex Mill
located along the northwestern side of Mill Street (see Fig. 2) and
built a lower raceway along Boudinot (now Van Houten) Street.
The mill activity grew rapidly and in the late 1820's
the S.U.M. undertook its first major realignment of the raceway and
power system in order to provide water for a new upper tier of mill
sites (see Fig. 3). The S.U.M. raised the earthen embankment separating the reservoir from the Passaic River and then routed a new
upper raceway around the tip of the rocks so that water could drop
into a parallel tailrace below which connected to the new middle raceway (see Fig. 4).
Finally in 1838, the last modification to the Great Falls
and Power Raceway System was made (see Fig. 5). Leakage through the
earthen dam around the reservoir forced the S.U.M. engineer to abandon
and then fill in and sell the reservoir and channels from the river.
A new channel was cut into the rocky river edge, a masonry dam was
built downstream to divert the river into the new raceway, and water
then flowed through a gulley on top of the earthen embankment which had
earlier been a dam for the reservoir.
Throughout the 19th century the Great Falls Raceway and
Power System was the primary power source for the manufacturing as
historian Levi Trumbull has written:
In 1876 there was in use on the upper
raceway 34 square feet of water, and on the middle
and lower raceways 33 square feet each, making 100
square feet in all...In 1878 four square feet additional on the middle and four on the lower raceways
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PATERSON RACEWAYS, [1800 - 27]
PATERSON RACEWAYS, [1828 - 37]
PATERSON RACEWAYS, [1838 - PRESENT]
were leased, to Hamil & Booth and others, making
37 square feet in use on each of these, on 108
square feet in all.
In its leases a square foot of water
is estimated by the Society to equal 17 horsepower. The Society estimates its total water
supply to equal 2,108 horse-power, 1,836 horsepower being now in use; not used at present,
seven square feet, or 119 horse-power, and nine
square feet or 153 horse-power never rented or in
use. The estimate of manufacturers are that a
square foot of water is equal to 21 horse-power
gross, and 16 horse-power net...It is estimated
that the average square foot is $750. The estimate of manufacturers of the average cost of
water is $37.50 per horse-power per annum.
L. R. Trumbull, A History of Industrial
Paterson (Paterson, N. J.: Carleton M. Herrick,
1882), P.35.
Recent History
The abundance of inexpensive energy provided by the Great
Falls Raceway and Power System attracted countless creative and innovative men and women to Paterson who built and continually improved such
industries as textiles and textile machinery, the Colt revolver, Rogers
and other steam locomotives, silk manufacturing, flax and jute production,
early Wright aircraft engines, apparel manufacturing, and many more. In
its peak
more than 40,000
workers were employed in the silk manufac-
turing and other industries centered in Paterson.
The Great Falls Raceway and Power System has been continuously used since the 1790's. As newer types of power sources, such as
steam and hydroelectric, became popular, the S.U.M. adapted and supplied
these services to its customers. In 1912-14, a hydroelectric power generating station was built at the Great Falls (see Fig. 6) and was used until
-14-
FIG. 6 S.U.M. Hydroelectric Plant Under Construction – 1913
1969. In addition, a steam generating plant (the foundation of which
supports the parking lot at Haines (Overlook) Park) was built to
generate steam when the river was too low to run the hydro-plant at
the necessary pressure (see Fig. 7).
The S.U.M. continued in operation until 1945 when its
property, assets, charter rights, hydroelectric power plant and raceway system were sold to the City of Paterson.
In the mid-1960's, most of the Great Falls Raceway and
Power System, as well as many of the old mill buildings adjacent to it,
were threatened with demolition by a planned 6 lane elevated Route 20
highway. However, an active citizen's group formed to preserve the
entire area now known as the Great Falls/S.U.M. Historic District and
serve as a reaffirmation of Paterson's national significance and as a
catalyst for the rebirth of the city.
In 1971, the Great Falls Development Corporation was formed
to guide this preservation effort and subsequently the 119 acre historic
district was listed on both the New Jersey and National Registers of
Historic Places. Then, on June 6, 1976, President Gerald R. Ford came to
Paterson to officially designate the entire Great Falls/S.U.M. Historic
District as the nation's first National Historic District.
Restoration and Redevelopment Activities Today
Today, the City of Paterson is actively restoring and
redeveloping the Historic District, its old mill buildings and the Great
Falls Raceway and Power System into an exciting mixed use district. The
-16-
Fig,7
S.O.M . Steam G enerating Plant–1915 (now the foundation for
the H aines(Overlook) P ark
Rogers Steam Locomotive Erecting Shop is being restored to serve as a
combined Cultural Arts Center/Museum, new offices for the Book Processing Division of the Paterson Library, and other office uses; The upper
raceway area is being redeveloped into a $1.4 million Green Acres Upper
Raceway Park; The Ivanhoe Papermill Water Wheelhouse is being restored
for a public information center; An 8 mile Bikeway is being constructed
to link the Great Falls National Historic District with 6 Paterson
Parks and the Central Business District.
The City also plans to reactivate the S.U.M. Hydro-electric
Power Generating Plant and to convert several mill buildings into artist
and loft housing, craft workshops, artist studios, commercial and office
space, and other adaptive reuses.
The Danger And Threat Of The "Two Bridges" - Ramapo Water Diversion Plan
Today a new danger threatens the City's efforts to preserve
and restore the Great Falls/S.U.M. National Historic District and the
Great Falls Raceway and Water Power System.
In 1975, the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission,
a Public Agency, and the Hackensack Water Company, a private water company,
filed an application, known as the Two Bridges-Ramapo Diversion Application,
with the New Jersey Water Policy Commission. That plan calls for the
diversion of much of the water now flowing over the Falls and through the
Great Falls Raceway and Water Power System. The two applicants claim that
the water is needed to meet future demands primarily for new development in
the Hackensack Meadowlands.
-18-
Not only would this drastic action ruin the scenic beauty
of the Great Falls, itself recognized as a Natural Historic Landmark,
but, by siphoning off the much cleaner Ramapo River where it joins the
Passaic River at Two-Bridges, it would make the Passaic River much
dirtier, increase the level of pollution, significally reduce the quantity of water in the river and subsequently force more industries out
of Paterson and other cities through which the river flows. This action
would severely impair the beauty of the Great Falls, inject highly
polluted water into the raceways which flow through the entire historic
district, and in general will jeopardize efforts to preserve and restore
the National Historic District and the Great Falls Raceway and Power
System.
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Fig. 8 – Interior Rogers Locomotive Erecting Shop No. 2 (1901–1915)
THE POWER SYSTEM'S CONTRIBUTIONS: PEOPLE AND PRODUCTS
The Great Falls Raceway and Power System was the source
which provided abundant and inexpensive energy for a succession of
different industries and it was the presence of these thriving
industries which attracted more hard working laborers, daring entrepreneurs, and others who through diligent work, continual creative
machinery tinkerings, and constant adaptive building reuses made
Paterson "The Cradle of American Industry".
The following list highlights several of the many engineers,
businessmen, and workers who produced better products in Paterson, New
Jersey.
Alexander Hamilton - Hamilton, first as an aide to George
Washington and then as Secretary of the Treasury was deeply involved
with the implementation and success of the S.U.M. plan in 1791. He
played a crucial role in choosing the Great Falls site, brought Pierre
Charles L'Enfant and many of the principal workmen into contact with the
S.U.M. and helped in the preliminary design work for the raceway system.
Philip Schuyler - Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton's father-inlaw, was a technically knowledgeable individual, who participated in the
initial engineering surveys around the Great Falls. He later promoted
the Erie Canal route before his death in 1807.
Pierre Charles L'Enfant - L'Enfant, planner of Washington,
D. C., and an engineer/architect, was suggested by Hamilton to the S.U.M.
His plans were judged too elaborate and expensive and he was released by
the S.U.M. in 1793, but many of his ideas and plans were used by his
successor, Peter Colt.
Peter Colt - Colt, earlier Treasurer of the State of Connecticut,
was made Superintendent of all of the Society's operations in 1793. He
adopted L'Enfant's somewhat grandiose European-style plans to the American
engineering conditions and standards of that time and completed the first
raceway.
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Fig. 9- Danforth-Cooke Locomotive in front of Danforth-Cooke Erecting Shop.
(Taken by Reid Studio)
John Colt - Son of Peter Colt, he became the S.U.M. hydraulic
engineer during the period of the Society's greatest growth in the mid1800's and developed the raceway and power system we know today. In the
late 1820’s, John Colt became famous for making cotton duck from double
and twisted cotton yarn.
Samuel Colt - A relative of Peter Colt, he manufactured America's
first repeating revolver in the Paterson Gun Mill of his Patent Arms
Company. However, due to the lack of experienced workers and financial
problems, the Paterson Colt factory closed 1850. Only the first and second
stories of the Colt Gun Mill remain today as part of the Allied Textile
Printers complex located at the end of Van Houten Street.
Thomas Rogers - Rogers developed the first of five successful
locomotive companies in Paterson. Although initially involved in the
manufacture of textile machinery, he revolutionized the locomotive industry
by developing counterbalanced wheels and hollow spoke rims. Following
Rogers success, he was joined by Grant, Danforth, Cooke and Swinburne who
developed steam locomotive companies bearing their names. By the third
quarter of the 19th century nearly 80% of all American steam locomotives
were made in Paterson. Several buildings of the huge Rogers Locomotive and
Machine Works complex still stand on Spruce Street. The Rogers Locomotive
Erecting Shop is being restored for new adaptive uses including the book
processing division of the Paterson Library and a consolidated museum/
cultural arts center complex.
John Ryle - Ryle's silk manufacturing career began at age 5
when he was employed as a bobbin boy in England. He then immigrated to
Paterson and was the first to spin silk on spools. His success as a silk
merchant earned him the reputation as "the father of the Paterson silk
industry". By the 1800's Paterson's silk mills employed nearly 15,000
people and became known as "the Silk City of the World".
Vernon Royle - Royle, a native Paterson inventor, is credited
with nearly 200 United States and European patents. His four main interests
were photo-engraving, jacquard card cutting, rubber tubing, and electric
wire insulation. His descendants still conduct the John Royle and Sons
machinery business on Essex Street in Paterson.
John P. Holland - Holland, inventor, designer, and builder of
the United States Navy's first practical submarine, immigrated to Paterson
from Ireland in 1873. While teaching at St. John's Parochial School, he
constructed his first submarine in a machine shop on Van Houten Street. In
May, 1878 the first trial run was made in the Passaic River near the Spruce
Street bridge. The submarine promptly sank but was raised 50 years later
and is presently on display in the Paterson Museum. Today Holland is
recognized as "the father of the modern submarine".
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Catholina Lambert - Lambert, a poor English immigrant,
became a very prominent Paterson silk merchant. During the peak
decade of Paterson's Silk Manufacturing and Dyeing Industry up to
1913, Paterson had more than 300 silk factories employing more than
18,000 workers and producing $30-40 million dollars of silk goods a
year. Today his Belle Vista Mansion, known as Lambert's Castle on
Garret Mountain, houses the Passaic County Historical Society and
the Passaic County Park Police.
John H. Cook - Cook was the S.U.M. engineer during the
early 20th century. A professional member of the ASCE, he supervised the design and construction of the S.U.M. hydroelectric power
plant during 1912-1914. The plant operated until it was deactivated
in 1969. The City of Paterson now hopes to reactivate the S.U.M.
Hydroelectric Power Plant in the near future.
Wright Aeronautical Corporation - The Wright Aeronautical
Corporation was established in Paterson in 1920. It manufactured
the-single, air-cooled, Wright "Whirlwind" J-5C nine cylinder radial
engine which powered Charles Lindbergh's famous "Spirit of St. Louis"
solo nonstop trans-Atlantic flight from New York to Paris on May 2021, 1927. In 1929 the Paterson plant produced more than 6,000 engines
a year.
These are but a few of the thousands of engineers and
entrepreneurs who were attracted to Paterson. In addition, there were
hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children who labored long
hours under the most severe conditions in Paterson mills. They, as
much as any single individual, must be given credit for Paterson's
success.
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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Development Proposal for a New Jersey Historic Urban Industrial
Park
1974
Unpublished manuscript, Department of Community
Development, Paterson, New Jersey.
Fries, Russell I.
1973
S.U.M. Power Canals. Great Falls - S.U.M. Survey,
A Report on the First Summer's Work. Historic
American Engineering Record in cooperation with the
Great Falls Development Corporation, Paterson,
New Jersey.
Fries, Russell I.
1975
"European vs. American Engineering: Pierre L'Enfant
and the Water Power System of Paterson, New Jersey".
Northeast Historical Archaeology, Vol. 4, Nos. 1 and
2: 68-96.
Gurney, Lt. Col. Gene, U.S.A.F.
1965
A Chronology of World Aviation. Franklin Watts, Inc.
New York, New York.
Leo, Ralph
1975
"An Examination of the Technology that Evolved from
the Rogers Locomotive & Machine Company, Paterson,
New Jersey" Northeast Historical Archaeology, Vol. 4,
Nos. 1 and 2: 24-38.
Minutes of the Directors of the Society for Establishing Useful
Manufactures
1791-1927 Original manuscript, Paterson Public Library,
Paterson, New Jersey.
Morris, Richard K.
1966
John P. Holland - United States Naval Institute,
Annapolis, Maryland.
-26-
National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form
1976
Prepared by Russell I. Fries nominating the Great
Falls/S.U.M. Historic District.
Norwood, Christopher
1974
About Paterson - Saturday Review Press, New York,
New York.
Paterson Normal School Class of 1932
1932
A Story of Paterson - Hudson Dispatch Printers,
Union City, New Jersey.
Schmidt, Otto
1971
The Annals of the Great Falls Area - Unpublished
manuscript, Paterson Public Library, Paterson, New
Jersey.
Trumbull, Levi R.
1882
A History of Industrial Paterson - Carleton M.
Herrick, Paterson, New Jersey.
-27-
ABOUT THE ASCE AND ASME HISTORY AND HERITAGE PROGRAMS
The American Society of Civil Engineers and The American
Society of Mechanical Engineers conduct various programs to educate
engineers and the general public about the technological heritage
of the United States and the constant and important presence of
engineers in the development of the nation. One way this goal
is achieved is through the designation and dedication of such Civil
and Mechanical Engineering "Landmarks" as machines, plants, bridges,
viaducts, power systems, etc. which were engineering and technological
"firsts".
The History and Heritage programs of both Societies are
similar and include historical publications, cooperation with The
Smithsonian Institution and the Historic American Engineering Record,
and the National and Local Landmarks program.
The ASCE program was started in 1966 and is administered
by the ASCE Committee on the History and Heritage of American Civil
Engineering Landmarks. It has to date designated 62 National Civil
Engineering Landmarks.
The ASME program was started in 1973 and is administered
by the ASME National History and Heritage Committee. It has to date
designated 25 National Mechanical Engineering Landmarks.
The dedication of the Great Falls Raceway and Power System
is the first New Jersey Historic Engineering Landmark designation for
either Society. It is also the second joint landmark dedication by the
two Societies because the System meets the joint standards set for
qualification as both a National Civil and Mechanical Engineering
Landmark.
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Fig.
A
-
Upper
Raceway
Showing
Flumes
to
Rogers
Locomotive
Buildings.